March 9, 2012

 

English wheat, rapeseed records highest plantings in four years

 

 

Good autumn conditions, supported by "relatively strong" prices, have pushed English farmers to raise wheat sowings to their highest in four years, with rapeseed area reaching a record level.

 

Winter crops overall proved popular for English and Welsh growers, who lifted plantings for the 2012 harvest by 4.6% to 2.98 million hectares.

 

This included a 2.9% rise in wheat seedings, to 1.86 million hectares, the highest since the 2008 peak, even excluding the small number of spring wheat plantings yet to be undertaken.

 

The increase is faster than in many other EU countries, with Scandinavian sowings held back by poor autumn weather.

 

Germany, the EU's second-ranked wheat grower, lifted winter sowings of the grain by 2.0%, with top-ranked France raising its winter seedings by 1.2%, official data show.

 

English and Welsh farmers enjoyed "generally favourable autumn weather conditions in 2011, which allowed plantings to progress", the HGCA, the UK crop bureau, said.

 

A larger increase in the wheat area was "prevented by increases in the winter barley and oilseed rape areas", which also saw substantial gains, the HGCA said.

 

Rapeseed plantings soared 6.2% to a record 698,000 hectares, and winter barley seedings rebounded by 8.8%, expansions "probably due to the economic competitiveness of these crops on farm".

 

Barley's popularity could also be down to strong malting premiums, a quest by mixed arable and livestock farms for home-grown feed and bedding, and "farmers wanting to spread harvest workload" by sowing an early-ripening crop, the bureau said.

 

Oats saw an even stronger revival in area, up by 12.9%, after a squeeze on supplies, which has forced hefty imports from Finland, boosted prices.

 

The strong market "is likely to be the main driver of the estimated area increase for 2012", the HGCA said.

 

However, the increases in winter crop may limit spring plantings, with the rise "anecdotally" coming "at the expense of some spring cropping area and winter sown pulses".

 

England and Wales account for the great majority of the UK harvest, which in wheat typically ranks as the EU's third biggest, and in rapeseed the fourth largest.